Interview
Bringing out the
best in broadband
Tero Pesonen was recently re-elected as the chair of TCCA’s Critical
Communications Broadband Group (CCBG). Critical Communications Today
catches up with him to learn about its work and the challenges ahead
22
www.criticalcomms.com January 2019
CCT: What are the CCBG’s immediate priorities?
TP: e group will be discussing its future targets at its 19th
meeting in March during Critical Communications Europe
in Coventry. Over the next two years we will see the bulk of
previously identied requirements being addressed in 3GPP
standardisation, an increasing number of critical broadband
projects will be in the implementation phase and even more
will be starting their procurement. ere will also be greater
understanding of how broadband access enables new solutions
and capabilities.
Some of the topics that will be discussed are:
• Testing and certication
• Renewal of procurement models
• Methods for the governing, operation and control of
broadband systems in an environment that includes
participation from commercial MNOs
• Deeper and faster co-ordination of 3GPP activities for the
entire global critical communications sector
• Building mutually benecial relationships with vertical
Market Representation Partners in 3GPP and beyond.
It is vital to recognise that the achievements of the CCBG
stem from members’ contributions. I am proud and thankful
of the eorts given by experts from dierent stakeholders
representing all sides of the table.
CCT: What do you consider to be the biggest
challenges for mission-critical operators as far as
the transition to mobile broadband for missioncritical
voice and data is concerned?
TP: I have divided the challenges into fourbaskets:
technology – standards and implementation; service – the
roll-out of technology and ensuring network availability,
including the introduction of relevant applications; usage –
the capability to use the service in the eld (including during
the transition from narrowbandnetworks); and governance
– the legal framework, the mandate to procure according to it
and the allocation of resources.
As we have already done quite a lot of work in terms of
standardisation, it is high time to advance the three other
categories. Governance topics, as they’re tied to political
and national budget considerations, tend to be very timeconsuming,
but are a great opportunity to create a common
voice and roadmap with stakeholders, which also helps them
to resource and proceed with their operational planning.
CCT: What kind of preparatory work can missioncritical
operators do to ensure they migrate in a
timely manner?
TP: In my home country of Finland, one of the rst key
activities was to understand how long narrowband can be
used for and what needs to be done before technical end of
life to ensure there is sucient time to migrate in an orderly
fashion. e next activity was to create a roadmap outlining
the dierent scenarios. en we started working on the
legal aspects and preparing for procurement. At the same
time, we encouraged user organisations to upgrade their
working procedures and support systems for broadband as
well as to support the potential intermediate steps such as
complementary broadband data. Also, right at the beginning,
at the mission-critical operator level and to a degree in user
organisations, Virve, Finland’s nationwide TETRA network,
began developing its broadband-related competencies and
personnel resources to be ready to take on its role as the
mission-critical broadband service operator.
CCT: How do you expect public safety
organisations’ approach to procurement will
change as they start to transition to missioncritical
broadband?
TP: Changes are already happening. For instance, critical
communications in the broadband era will follow mainstream
consumer technology, and the components for each new
generation of consumer 4G/5G devices are only available on
the market for a few months. is means that if a missioncritical
customer were to stick to the traditional approach to
procurement, they might end up getting products with end
Critical communications will follow
consumer technology, and the
components for each new generation of
consumer 4G/5G devices are only
available for a few months
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